UT Controversy Continues

A prestigious group of Texas business men and women who have raised “several billion dollars” for University of Texas programs urged the UT Board of Regents to re-affirm its commitment to research.

The letter, signed by 16 current and past Chairs of the Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee — a fund-raising organization – was prompted by a controversy over the hiring of a $200,000 a year “special adviser” to the regents whose anti-research views represent a departure from the university’s current mission and goals.

Rick O’Donnell, a senior analyst for the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, was reassigned after key lawmakers and UT stalwarts questioned why he was hired in a position that conflicted with Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa’s duties. O’Donnell has written policy papers characterizing research as a waste of taxpayer money.

Thursday, Austin businessman C. Patrick Oles, the current chair of the Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee, sent a memo to 310 Chancellor’s Council members advising them of the letter to the regents. Here are some highlights:

“Yesterday, sixteen current and former Chairs of the Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee spanning some thirty years delivered a letter to the UT Board of Regents. The letter was intended to be constructive, yet quite clear in conveying our alarm over these events and statements. Following is a brief summary of the letter:

 The 12,000 plus member Chancellor’s Council and its 310 member Executive Committee composed of business, professional and civic leaders, have provided several billion dollars of private philanthropic support to the 15 institutions of the UT System and to the Office of the Chancellor over many years. Preserving and strengthening this critical source of funding depends upon trust and confidence in the leadership of the UT System. We believe this confidence has been shaken and we are deeply concerned.

 While we respect the important role of the UT System Board of Regents, it appears that some of the ideas and proposals being discussed may detract from our predominant mission of creating the “University of the First Class”, undermining our ability to recruit and retain world class educators, researchers and administrators within our Universities and Health Institutions.

 While great institutions must embrace change and continually seek to improve efficiency and accountability, to be positive, the new ideas and changes must be credible in the eyes of the broader academic community. Indeed we applaud the efforts of our outstanding Chancellor Cigarroa and previous boards to substantially reduce costs ($1.4 billion 2006-2010) and improve transparency and accountability.

 We support the statements of the UT Board of Regents in their response to the recent letter from the Texas Exes wherein the Board affirmed their strong support for the value of academic research, and disavowed the notion of substituting low cost “contractors” for distinguished tenured faculty and rating individual professors on their revenue generating ability. These unproven concepts appear to conflict with the Texas Legislature’s desire to create more Tier 1 research universities.”

According to the UT website, former chairs of the Chancellors Council Executive Committee include philanthropist Frank Denius, former Austin Mayor Roy Butler, noted attorney Morris Atlas and UT benefactor Mike A. Myers, for whom the university named a track stadium.

This week, another group of business leaders formed “Texas Business for Higher Education,” to “improve both teaching and research, improve access and lower costs,” Justin Keener, the group’s organizer, told the Austin American-Statesman.

Keener, who formerly worked for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, also told the newspaper that his organization considers research vital to universities.